Articles and Blogs

In the May 2016 edition of Perspectives, The Joint Commission announced the end of its ban on sending patient care orders by text message effective immediately for all accreditation programs. In 2011, The Joint Commission published a set of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) prohibiting physicians or licensed independent practitioners from texting orders for patient care…Read More

Recent updates to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (“HRSA”) regulatory agenda indicate that HRSA has delayed the much anticipated release of its final 340B Program Omnibus Guidance (also referred to as the “mega-guidance”) to the end of 2016. HRSA has also delayed publication of a final 340B manufacturer civil monetary penalty rule and proposed…Read More

Ways and Means Committee Releases Hospital Bill That Addresses HOPD Site-Neutral Payment Issue On May 18, the House Ways and Means Committee released the bipartisan Helping Hospitals Improve Patient Care Act of 2016 (H.R. 5273). Among the many provisions in the 30-page legislation is an amendment to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (“BBA”) that…Read More

On May 17, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced the details of its final rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act, establishing new salary thresholds for millions of traditionally exempt white collar employees. These changes will significantly impact many employers’ budgets in coming months, although not by as much or as soon as the…Read More

On May 9, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) posted Advisory Opinion 16-06, addressing a proposed arrangement whereby a health system (“Health System”) would wholly own the requesting group purchasing organization (“GPO”), as well as approximately one percent of the GPO’s members (“Proposed Arrangement”). OIG concluded that the Proposed…Read More

On May 3, 2016, an administrative law judge struck down an employer’s computer use policy as violating employees’ rights to engage in concerted activity. (CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION d/b/a RIO ALL-SUITES HOTEL AND CASINO and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PAINTERS AND ALLIED TRADES, DISTRICT COUNCIL 15). This decision comes shortly after the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) General…Read More

Ways and Means Committee Holds Hearing on MACRA Implementation On May 11, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hosted CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt to discuss the administration’s implementation plan for the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (“MACRA”). At the hearing, Slavitt and members discussed the first MACRA-related proposed regulation,…Read More

On May 2, 2016, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (“RRB”) issued an Interim Final Rule (“Interim Final Rule”) significantly increasing its civil monetary penalties under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (“PFCRA”). Specifically, the RRB implemented minimum and maximum penalties of $10,781 and $21,563 per claim, respectively, to be effective…Read More

In the first big win in more than 10 years for hospitals over the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in a litigated hospital merger challenge, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III of the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled against the FTC, denying their request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block the merger between Penn…Read More

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently published resource documents on two hot topics in the labor and employment world: bathroom access for transgender employees and leaves of absence for disabled workers. The EEOC notes that its resource documents do not create new policy, are not voted on by the Commission and are only…Read More